Greetings Golfers,

For those of us of a certain age, we all remember where we were when President Kennedy was killed. Fifty years ago tomorrow, I was in 3rd grade when the awful news came over the classroom loudspeaker. That night my Cub Scout Pack Meeting was cancelled – the whole country went into shock – everything stopped.

I know this is a golf newsletter … but I have been known to get off topic. How’s this for a save: “Golf Digest” magazine rated JFK the best golfer of all American Presidents. Even though he had a bad back, he supposedly had a sweet swing.

Most of the Presidents of the 1900’s played golf – usually not well – Woodrow Wilson and Dwight Eisenhower were the most avid. In fact, Ike’s love of golf and Arnold Palmer’s magnetism combined to bring golf to the masses in the 1950’s.

Then after Eisenhower, Kennedy was elected President in 1960 to lead America into a new, youthful, dynamic era. But on November 23, 1963 that hope was ended. Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson took the reigns.

History is still confused about the ensuing years: Viet Nam, the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy, the Civil Rights Movement, LBJ’s Great Society, the Moon Landing, Chappaquiddick, Richard Nixon, Watergate. The ten years after President Kennedy’s assassination were chaotic and ended with Watergate.

I read somewhere that 80% of the American public believes that we don’t know the truth behind the JFK assassination.

We may never know the truth. But I do know that America changed 50 years ago tomorrow. Though we changed and still haven’t completely healed, we are a strong, resilient nation. I knew that then and know that now – that hasn’t changed.

Respectfully,

Tom Abts
GM and Head Golf Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com

Greetings Golfers,

It’s November and we’re closed. Last weekend was pretty nice and we were pretty busy… that feels like a month ago. We’ve put the course to bed and are cleaning the Clubhouse. There’s a lot to do in the off-season and it goes by all too quickly.

That’s enough about the off-season of the golf business – these emails aren’t supposed to be boring.

The NFL’s not boring – not lately. How about the Miami Dolphins’ locker-room/hazing story? How about the Vikings beating Washington last night? I won’t go into the Washington team’s nickname issue.

But most of these NFL stories aren’t so much about football as about issues in society. That mess in Miami hasn’t blown up yet. The team is trying to keep it together … but how? by defending a racist bully? where does that lead? and the coaches – what was their role?

Seems to be a lot of confusion about roles – teammates, friends, being a man.

The bottom line is that we have to get along with each other – that’s the only way a team or a society works. Treating each other with respect is the answer. I don’t get how treating people poorly is supposed to make things better – unless you believe in keeping people down.

Maybe chivalry will make a comeback. I wish the NFL would lead the way. How cool would it be if the culture of the NFL was more like King Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable – than like Piggy and the Lord of the Flies?

Cheers,

Tom Abts
GM and Head Golf Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com

Greetings Golfers,

David Ortiz – 2013 World Series MVP. Was that a fluke? Hardly. The Red Sox have broken their curse since Ortiz arrived in 2002… from the Minnesota Twins.

I know, I know … teams trade future stars all the time – no one has a crystal ball. But, look at these ex-Twins and see if you see a pattern: Johan Santana, Matt Garza, Francisco Lirianno, Carlos Gomez, Wilson Ramos, and David Ortiz?

Remember how good the Twins were in the ‘60s with Tony Oliva, Zoillo Versalles, Camelo Pascual, Cesar Tovar, Leo Cardenas, and Rod Carew? At least the Twins in those years kept their Latin players.

Just because we’re in Minnesota doesn’t mean that every Twin has to look like a hockey player.

Hurrah for Jerry Kill and the Gophers Football Team. Talk about a “Rocky” story. Did you hear Kill’s staff being interviewed after the Nebraska game? Their loyalty to Kill was moving/inspiring. I hope he can hang in there and build a strong program.

Good organizations don’t always win all of the time. But they do things right and they’re looking at the long term. They don’t cut corners and they’re open minded.
Some of these local teams need more than a quick fix … they need new organizations.

Cheers,

Tom Abts
GM and Head Golf Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com